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NATCHEZ, Miss. – Sheriff Travis Patten said the Adams County jail is becoming so unsustainable that county supervisors must take decisive action soon about alternative housing for its inmates.

The sheriff and supervisors have struggled for years with the deteriorating facility, but haven’t agreed on building a new jail. 

While many Adams County detainees are now incarcerated in Concordia Parish’s correctional facility, some still must remain in the 51-year-old Adams County jail. 

However, with “the building deteriorating at the rate it is,” Patten said it could be close to being uninhabitable. “The building needs to go,” he said.

Meeting Monday with the Board of Supervisors, the sheriff said he plans in February to present a detailed report about the “numbers, conditions and needs” related to the jail.

Estimated costs vary for building a new jail. A recent projection had one costing about $40 million. Adams County supervisors have said a tax increase would likely be needed to pay for a new jail. Supervisor Ricky Gray suggested Monday that Adams County voters should decide. “We need to put it on the ballot,” Gray said.

In other discussions Monday, Patten asked supervisors to consider supporting a statewide push to get the state Legislature to enact a law letting local law-enforcement officers use radar to catch speeders. Current law only allows speed-radar devices being used by Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol troopers with limited permission for local lawmen in selected areas of the state.

Patten noted how treacherous Adams County roads are with speeding drivers. “Our streets are deadly,” he said.

County Supervisor Ricky Gray expressed support for authorizing sheriff’s deputies to use radar. “If it slows people down to make this community safer, I’m for it,” Gray said.

Supervisor Kevin Wilson expressed qualms about what he noted has been “a hot-button topic for a long time.”

“It’s something I’m not a big fan of – more policing,” Wilson said.

Supervisor Angela Hutchins also expressed reservations about expanding the use of radar devices to curb speeding. However, she asked board attorney Scott Slover to review the written request Patten submitted to the board asking the state Legislature to enact a law authorizing sheriffs departments’ use of speed radar.

As the new year begins, Hutchins on Monday took the gavel as Adams County board president. She replaces Wilson, who’s been serving in the head chair since 2024. Wilson — the board’s only Republican — is running this year for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Fellow supervisors elected Hutchins after Supervisor Wes Middleton turned down taking the helm when nominated. Hutchins is the five-member board’s longest-serving supervisor, having been first seated in 2012.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County property owners can challenge their skyrocketing tax bills by disputing the higher value officials have placed on the homes, buildings and land.

With taxpayers beginning to receive their annual bills Saturday from Adams County Tax Collector Terrence Bailey, “horror stories” are being heard about how much they are, said Adams County Supervisor Kevin Wilson.

“People are really upset,” he said Monday as the Board of Supervisors held its first meeting of the new year.

Properties were reassessed in 2025, causing value to increase to account for inflation and other contributing factors. However, taxpayers can attempt to get their taxes lowered by appealing to the county tax assessor and Board of Supervisors by arguing their properties have been overvalued, said county board attorney Scott Slover.

Slover noted the board in past years has made property-value adjustments on some occasions for specific parcels.

Wilson said he expects “a boardroom full of people” complaining in the coming weeks as their high tax bills are due to be paid the first of February.

“It’s a mess, and it’s going to be a worse mess later” as taxpayers fully realize how much more they owe, Wilson said.  

The tax bills are the combined total of what property owners owe Natchez, Adams County and the Natchez-Adams School District.

Adams County has been through a state-mandated reassessment process that has seen property values rise due to inflation and other contributing factors.

In Mississippi, property tax values are calculated based on several factors, including how the property is used, its construction and its current market value. The Mississippi Department of Revenue requires counties to reassess property values every four years to reflect changes in the market and ensure tax equity.

The annual property tax bills are normally mailed out in December, but they were delayed because the Adams County tax collector had to switch to a new contractor for processing the paper notices.

The taxes can be paid by mail, online or by visiting the tax collector’s office in the Adams County Courthouse. Taxes paid after the February deadline have an added financial penalty.

To view Adams County property tax information that includes how much is owed for each parcel, go to:

www.deltacomputersystems.com/ms/ms01/plinkquerym.html

County board President Kevin Wilson noted Adams County property owners have been anxiously awaiting their tax bills annually mailed in December. Bailey said they can pay what’s due online without receiving their bills, or they can visit the tax collector’s office in the Adams County Courthouse. Payments are due next year by Feb. 1.

The property taxes – based on the assessed values of land and buildings – are combined for what’s due Natchez, Adams County and the Natchez-Adams School District.

To view your property tax information that includes how much is owed, go to:

www.deltacomputersystems.com/ms/ms01/plinkquerym.html

Convening Monday for what’s scheduled to be their last public meeting of the year, the five county supervisors took up various matters that included discussions about improvements needed for South Palestine Road. Cost estimates are being made for repairing its “horrible” conditions, said county Road Manager Robbie Dollar.

He said the byway that traverses from Liberty Road through south Adams County is one of the county’s worst roads. “I get more calls on this one than any other area,” Dollar told county supervisors.

He said he’s evaluating prices and options “to see what the cheapest route is” for fixing the crumbling roadway. Dollar submitted to supervisors the countywide road plan for the next four years.

 The board also discussed plans for improvements needed for the Natchez-Adams County Airport as it prepares for commercial passenger airline service coming next year.

AT&T and C Spire have competing bids supervisors are reviewing to build about one mile of fiber-optic communication lines from U.S. 61 to the county-owned airport, said county Administrator Mitzi Conn. The companies propose to pay part of the expenses that Conn said would total about $50,000.  The board is also seeking proposals from engineering firms for designing and building the various upgrades needed to accommodate the passengers and Skywest Airline-operated United Express planes that start coming in July.

Local leaders are gathering today at the airport to celebrate the return of commercial passenger airline service to Natchez-Adams County after more than 30 years without.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The governor has awarded Adams County $1.7 million to help make the old Natchez International Paper site ready for new industry.

“The over $100 million investment I announced today will help Mississippi continue its record-shattering economic development efforts, attract billions in future capital investment and strengthen our entire state,” Reeves said in detailing the various allocations Thursday.

The land on Lower Woodville and Carthage Point roads is being marketed as the “Mississippi River Energy Complex,” said Chandler Russ, executive director of Natchez Inc., the industrial recruitment agency for the city and county.

Russ noted recently that the property is already occupied by industries that have invested more than $70 million into their developments and employ more than 100 people. The industries include Phibro, a tire-recycling facility.

To continue making the old IP site “shovel-ready” for more industries, Adams County has received more than $4 million from the state. That includes $740,000 for completing site development of 40 acres and $3.5 million for the remaining property “to achieve full shovel-ready status,” Russ said. 

The $1.7 million the governor announced Thursday for Adams County is tucked into more than $100 million distributed to cities and counties throughout Mississippi. The money is from various state and federal sources, such as the Mississippi Development Authority, Appalachian Regional Commission and Delta Regional Authority.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson broke city aldermen’s tie votes Tuesday to retain a local ban against roadside panhandling. He broke another tie to appoint a former garden club president to Natchez’ tourism commission.

The mayor said Natchez should continue with its existing ordinance making it illegal for people to stand along public roadways asking for money. Gibson voted with three aldermen to opt out of a new state law that sets out a local permitting process “for what I consider to be a dangerous activity.” They outvoted the three aldermen embracing the new law that gives cities the option to allow roadside solicitation with various requirements, such as getting a permit and paying a fee.

Siding with the mayor were Aldermen Sarah Carter Smith, Ben Davis and Curtis Moroney to wave off the new panhandling permit law and keep the current ban intact. Voting to develop local permitting regulations: Aldermen Valencia Hall, Billie Joe Frazier and Felicia Bridgewater Irving.

Gibson and other city officials have expressed concerns about beggars posing traffic hazards at busy intersections as they solicit money from motorists at stoplights. Current law does forbid people from interfering with traffic, but courts have deemed limited forms of panhandling to be free speech protected by the constitution.

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In breaking another 3-3 board vote Tuesday, the mayor supported Donna Sessions’ appointment to the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission. Gibson said the former Natchez Garden Club president is highly qualified to serve on the tourism board, and he rejected some aldermen’s contention that a Black person instead should fill the seat.

Sessions replaces Barbara Bruce, who was one of three Black members on the six-member commission that determines how to spend the city’s tourism tax revenues to market the city. It also oversees Visit Natchez, the city’s tourism office.

With Natchez being about 60 percent Black,  “there should be some sort of representation on the (tourism) board” to reflect that majority population, said Frazier, one of Natchez’ four Black aldermen.

However, Gibson said choosing people to sit on government boards should be based on their qualifications and not devolve  “into a discussion on race.”

Joining Gibson in voting for Sessions’ appointment: Hall, Smith, and Moroney; Against: Frazier, Davis, and Irving.

Sessions will join the other NCPC members: Jennie Guido, John Grady Burns, Robbie Cade-Furdge,  Fred Marsalis Jr., and Sheila Duffy-Lehrman. Marsalis and Duffy-Lehrman were appointed in October to replace Helen Moss Smith and Lance Harris, who resigned after several years on the commission.

Sessions was among six candidates considered by aldermen to replace Smith or Harris in October. Sessions remained in contention as a viable candidate after Bruce subsequently resigned, but Frazier, Irving, and Davis said more prospects should be sought for aldermen to interview.

Sessions was president in recent years of the Natchez Garden Club. It owns Magnolia Hall and House on Ellicott’s Hill, which are among Natchez’ primary tourist attractions along with other antebellum houses.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors has tapped a contractor to resurface a stretch of the much-traveled Morgantown Road for $1 million. They also chose another construction company to remedy the flood-prone Carthage Point Road for about $325,000.

Work has already begun on Morgantown Road – deemed for years as the thoroughfare most in need of upgrades in Adams County – to alleviate drainage problems. Dozer – a Natchez-based construction company — began that phase in 2024.

For the second phase involving resurfacing and widening the road, the Adams County Board of Supervisors on Monday agreed to select APAC-Mississippi. The suburban Jackson-based company’s $1.1 million price tag was the lower of two bids submitted for the project.

A one-mile stretch of Morgantown Road from U.S. 61 north to Red Loop Road has been called the most dangerous thoroughfare in Adams County because it’s so narrow and prone to rain-induced flooding.

About $4 million in recent years has been appropriated for Morgantown Road from federal, state and local funds that Natchez and Adams County officials have cobbled together.

In other action Monday, supervisors chose Midway Construction to fix the flood-prone Carthage Point Road for about $325,600. The Roxie-based company’s price tag was the lowest of two submitted for the work needed to prevent washouts of the road along the Mississippi River in south Adams County past the old International Paper mill. While there are no residences along the road, there are oil wells and hunting camps there that have been rendered inaccessible because of the eroded roadway.

The Mississippi Legislature in 2023 earmarked $500,000 to fix Carthage Point Road. The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act that Congress enacted in 2021 to help Mississippi recover from the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.

Adams County supervisors on Monday also agreed to ask contractors to submit bids for resurfacing a part of Kingston Road for an estimated cost about $1 million. About two miles of the road beginning at U.S. 61 south of Natchez is in much need of new pavement, said county board President Kevin Wilson. Federal ARPA funds have been set aside for this.

Supervisors put off a decision to approve a builder’s proposal to construct restrooms at the county-owned Chester Willis baseball stadium at a cost of about $243,000. They said more time is needed to figure out the additional costs and wherewithal for connecting the facility to the Natchez sewer system. 

Aldermen approved new city regulations Tuesday for ensuring adequate conditions exist at residential assisted-care group homes, which have sparked complaints from Natchez residents.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen and Mayor Dan Gibson on Tuesday held a hearing to get public feedback, but no one spoke up before aldermen adopted the ordinance.

Gibson has expressed concerns about several residential neighborhood houses in Natchez becoming commercial ventures where vulnerable adults are allegedly being abused. The mayor noted he has a “special-needs” brother.

There’s currently one licensed residential personal-care group home in Natchez and several others that should be licensed, said city Planning & Zoning Director Mingo Tingle. Alderman Curtis Moroney said there are several that are public nuisances with unruly occupants that have prompted complaints from residents in his central Natchez ward, which includes neighborhoods in the Winchester Road, Duncan Park and Montebello areas.

While the state Department of Health regulates residential personal-care homes, the local ordinance is needed because “oversight by the state was lacking,” Tingle said. Alderman Billie Joe Frazier noted it’ll be a challenge for city officials taking steps needed to enforce the new regulations.